Cladding Panel and Cladding System Therewith

ABSTRACT

A cladding system includes i) a panel having generally parallel front and back faces defining a thickness, two lateral sides, top and bottom edges, and first and second slits extending along at least a portion of the length of the panel from the back face thereof and having respective first and second openings that are substantially parallel to the bottom edge, wherein the first slit is oriented within the thickness towards the top edge and the second slit is oriented towards the bottom edge. The top and bottom edges are configured for complementary connection. The system further including at least one V-shaped mounting clip that is adapted to be removably receivable in the first and second planar slits from one of the two lateral sides, for attaching the panel to a wall.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.63/335,278, filed on Apr. 27, 2022, the content of which is incorporatedby reference herein.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to cladding panels and systems.

BACKGROUND

Cladding systems for buildings exist that aim at reproducing the look ofreal stones or bricks while being less expensive to produce and botheasier and less expensive to mount.

Known such cladding systems are, however, provided with a mountingsystem that is often complicated and costly to manufacture and/ordifficult to mount, sometimes requiring a backing system forpre-mounting to the receiving wall.

Also, it has been found that some existing cladding systems that aim atreproducing the look of real stones or bricks either require to befurther sealed after installation or yield openings or cracks that arebound to cause water infiltration.

SUMMARY

According to illustrative embodiments, there is provided a claddingpanel comprising:

-   substantially parallel front and back faces, defining a thickness of    the panel;-   two lateral sides, defining a length of the panel;-   top and bottom edges; the top and bottom edges being configured for    complementary connection; and-   first and second slits extending along at least a portion of the    length of the panel from the back face thereof and having respective    first and second openings that are substantially parallel to the    bottom edge; the first slit being oriented within the thickness    towards the top edge and the second slit being oriented towards the    bottom edge;-   whereby, in operation, the first and second slits being configured    for removably receiving together a V-shaped mounting clip from one    of the two lateral sides, for attaching the panel to a wall.

According to other illustrative embodiments, there is provided acladding system comprising:

-   at least one cladding panel, each having generally parallel front    and back faces defining a thickness of the at least one cladding    panel, two lateral sides, defining a length of the at least one    cladding panel, and top and bottom edges; the top and bottom edges    being configured for complementary connection; the at least one    cladding panel including first and second slits extending along at    least a portion of the length of the at least one cladding panel    from the back face thereof and having respective first and second    openings that are substantially parallel to the bottom edge; the    first slit being oriented within the thickness towards the top edge    and the second slit being oriented towards the bottom edge; and-   at least one V-shaped mounting clip that is adapted to be removably    receivable in the first and second slits from one of the two lateral    sides of the at least one cladding panel, for attaching the at least    one cladding panel to a wall.

According to further illustrative embodiments, there is provided amethod for manufacturing a cladding panel, the method comprising:

-   providing a panel having generally parallel front and back faces    defining a thickness, two lateral sides, and top and bottom edges;    and-   cutting first and second slits therein, each along at least a    portion of the length of the panel from the back face thereof so    that the first slit is oriented within the thickness towards the top    edge and the second slit is oriented towards the bottom edge.

According to yet another illustrative embodiment, there is provided apanel comprising:

-   a decorative side;-   a back side opposite the decorative side; both the decorative and    back sides extending in a first direction between opposite lateral    sides and extending in a second direction between upper and lower    sides; and-   upper and lower parallel grooves in the back side extending from at    least one of the two lateral sides for receiving corresponding    portions of a mounting bracket; the upper groove having a portion    extending from the back side substantially towards one of the upper    and lower sides and the lower groove having a portion extending from    the back side substantially towards another one of the upper and    lower sides.

Other objects, advantages and features of the cladding system and panel,and of a manufacturing method therefore will become more apparent uponreading the following non-restrictive description of preferredembodiments thereof, given by way of example only with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the appended drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wall partially covered by a claddingsystem, including cladding panels, both according to first illustrativeembodiments;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the wall from FIG. 1 ;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are side elevation close up views showing respectively amounting clip and a starter strip, both according to illustrativeembodiments and part of the cladding system from FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation view of a cladding panel according to asecond illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a back elevation view of a cladding panel from FIG. 1 ,illustrating the mounting of a clip thereto;

FIG. 6 is a back perspective view of part of the wall from FIG. 1 ,showing the positioning of the starter strip and a clip mounted to oneof the panel;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are respectively front perspective and side elevationviews of the mounting clip from FIGS. 1, 2 and 6 ;

FIG. 8 is a front perspective of the starter strip from FIGS. 1 and 6 ;

FIG. 9A is a front perspective of a starter strip according to a secondillustrative embodiment;

FIG. 9B is a side elevation close up view similar to FIG. 3B, showingthe mounting of a cladding panel from FIG. 1 onto the starter strip fromFIG. 9A;

FIG. 10 is a perspective close-up view of a cladding panel from FIG. 1 ,with a mounting clip mounted thereto in an upside-down position forshipping and storing purposes; and

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a panel from FIG. 1 on a saw bench,showing the making of the slits for receiving the mounting clip fromFIG. 7A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, similar features in the drawings have beengiven similar reference numerals, and in order not to weigh down thefigures, some elements are not referred to in some figures if they werealready identified in a precedent figure. Herein, it shall further benoted that, for avoiding unnecessary details obscuring the invention,only device structures and/or processing steps closely relevant toschemes according to the invention are shown in the accompanyingdrawings while omitting other details less relevant to the invention.

The use of the word “a” or “an” when used in conjunction with the term“comprising” in the claims and/or the specification may mean “one”, butit is also consistent with the meaning of “one or more”, “at least one”,and “one or more than one”. Similarly, the word “another” may mean atleast a second or more.

As used in this specification and claim(s), the words “comprising” (andany form of comprising, such as “comprise” and “comprises”), “having”(and any form of having, such as “have” and “has”), “including” (and anyform of including, such as “include” and “includes”) or “container” (andany form of container, such as “contain” and “contains”), are inclusiveor openended and do not exclude additional, un-recited elements.

A cladding system 10 according to an illustrative embodiment will now bedescribed with reference first to FIGS. 1-3B and 5 .

The cladding system 10 comprises a plurality of cladding panels 12 andwindowsill panels 14 that are secured to a wall 15 using clips 16, thepanels 12 and 14 and the clips being configured for complementaryattachment without the use of tools.

The wall 15 can be any type of wall, providing support portions toattach the clip 16 using fasteners (not shown) as will be describedhereinbelow in more detail.

Also, as will become more apparent upon reading the followingdescription, the panels 12 and windowsills 14 can be of any sizes and/orbe cut, for example on site, to form rows that are adapted to fit anylength and height of wall 15.

With reference more specifically to FIGS. 2-3B and 5 , each panel 12 hasgenerally parallel front and back faces 18 and 20 defining a thickness‘t’, two lateral sides 22, and top and bottom edges 24 and 26 that areconfigured for complementary tongue and groove connection.

More specifically, the top edge 24 includes a generally V-shapedprotrusion 28 that extends along the full length of the panel 12. Thebottom edge 26 includes a generally V-shaped groove 30 that isconfigured to complementary receive the protrusion 28 when two panelsare both aligned and superimposed.

Accordingly, the tongue and groove configuration of the top and bottomedges allows sealingly closing the gap between two superimposed panels12.

According to another embodiment, the tongue and groove configuration ofthe top and bottom edge is reversed.

A panel according to a further embodiment (not shown) is configured withanother complementary arrangement on its top and bottom edges, such asthe well-known shiplap and tongue-in-groove configurations.

According to the first illustrative embodiment, the panel 12 is made ofconcrete and results, for example, from a moulding process. According toanother illustrative embodiment, the panel is made of another material.For example, natural stones can be attached, for example during amolding process, to a concrete backing.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 , the front face 18 of the panel 12 has abrick-like finish. However, a panel according to an illustrativeembodiment is not limited to such a finish. For example, FIG. 4 shows apanel 29 according to a second illustrative embodiment, which differsfrom the panel 12 by its front face 31 having a fieldstone finish.

According to the first illustrative embodiment, the panel 12 has anatural ‘uncolored’ finish. According to another illustrativeembodiment, the panel, or at least part thereof is colored.

Turning now to FIGS. 5 and 6 , the panel 12 further includes top andbottom planar slits or grooves 32 and 34, each extending along the fulllength of the panel 12 from the back thereof and being generallyperpendicular to the lateral sides 22. More specifically, the top planarslit 32 is slanted within the thickness of the panel 12 towards the topedge 24, and the bottom planar slit 34 is slanted towards the bottomedge 26 The top and bottom slits 32 and 34 together define together aV-shape.

Together, the first and second planar slits 32-34 are configured forremovably receiving together V-shaped mounting clips 16 from one of thetwo lateral sides 22 of the panel, for attaching the panel 22 to thewall 15 using fasteners (not shown).

While the slits 32 and 34 are shown as extending along the full lengthof the panel 12, they can be made so that they begin from one or bothlateral sides 22 of the panel 12 and end at the same or differentdistance from the respective sides 22. For example, a panel according toa further illustrative embodiment (not shown) may include a pair ofslits that extends laterally from one of its lateral sides to a distancethat is less than the length of the panel, so that the slits are notvisible on the other lateral side. Such a panel can be used to form,with a panel 12, the corner of a wall (not shown) wherein the slits arenot visible.

With reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B, each clip 16 includes apanel-mounting portion 36 and a wall-mounting portion 38. Thepanel-mounting portion 36 is generally V-shaped so as to becomplementary received in both the top and bottom slits 32 and 34 wheninserted therein from one of the lateral sides 22 of the panel 12.

More specifically, the wall-mounting portion 38 is in the form of atongue having first and second longitudinal ends 40 and 42 and includinga fastener or nail receiving hole 44 near the first longitudinal 40 endthereof.

The panel-mounting portion 36 includes a planar portion 46 extendingfrom the second longitudinal end 42 of wall-mounting portion 38 so as todefine an obtuse angle therewith, and two tabs 48, extending generallyperpendicularly from the first planar portion 46 on respective lateralsides of the wall-mounting portion 38. Reinforcement portions 50-51 areprovided i) on both the tongue 38 and planar portion 46 therebetween,and ii) on both the tabs 48 and planar portion 46 therebetween.According to another embodiment, such reinforcement portions areomitted.

According to the first illustrative embodiment, the clip 16 is aone-piece galvanized steel body, which results from a molding process orfrom metal cutting. According to another embodiment, the clips 16 can bemade of stainless steel or from another metal, or alloy, or of acomposite or polymeric material.

The clip 16 is adapted to the corresponding receiving portions 32-34 onthe panel 12 and, as such, both the clip 16 and clip receiving portions32-34 may be different than illustrated.

For example, any one of the angles between i) the planar portion 46 andthe wall-mounting portion 38, and ii) the planar portion 46 and the tabs48, may be different than illustrated.

According to still another illustrative embodiment (not shown), thepanel-mounting portion 36 and the receiving portions 32-34 on the panel12 may have another configuration than the illustrated V-shapedportions, including, without limitations, C-shaped portions or otherregular or irregular portions (not shown).

Also, the wall-mounting portion 38 of the clip 16 may be differentlyconfigured than illustrated and/or may include a plurality offastener-receiving holes 44. The clip 16 may also include more than onewall-mounting portion 38.

FIG. 11 illustrates a method for making the slits 32 and 34 using a sawbench 47, whereby two consecutive passes (see arrow 51) of the panel 12is made therein with the angle of the blade 37 being adjusted, beforeeach pass, to 45° and then 135° or vice versa. According to anotherembodiment, the panel 12 is moved through two saw benchs or one with twoblades 37, each adjusted to the one of the two above-mentioned angles.The thickness of the blade 37 is such as to yield slits 32-34 beingslightly thicker than the tabs 48 and planar portion 46 of the clip 16,for snugly, but smooth, sliding of the planar portion 46 and tabs 48 inthe slits 32 and 34.

Another method than the one illustrated in FIG. 11 can alternatively beused to make the slits 32 and 34, depending for example on theconfiguration thereof.

With references to FIGS. 1, 3B and 8 , the cladding system 10 furthercomprises a starter strip 52 that is configured for complementaryreceiving the bottom edge 26 of the panel 12.

More specifically, the starter strip 52 is made of a metal, such asgalvanized steel and stainless steel, and includes a generally flatwall-mounting portion 54 that includes first fastener-receiving holes56, and a ground contacting portion 58, which extends perpendicularlyfrom the wall-mounting portion 54 therealong. The ground contactingportion 58 includes second fastener-receiving holes 60 and a generallyV-shaped fold portion 62 that extends along the full length of the strip52 and that is shaped to be complementary received within the V-shapedgroove 30 of the panel 12. According to another illustrated embodiment(not shown), the fold portion 62 is replaced by protrusion configured tobe received with the V-shaped groove 30.

Further features and characteristics of the cladding system 10 willbecome apparent upon reading the following description of theinstallation thereof, with references more specifically to FIGS. 1, 2,3A-3B and 6 .

The starter strip 52 is first position on the ground or on a receivingsurface adjacent the wall 15 and is secured to both the ground and wall15 using the first and second fastener-receiving holes 56 and 60 andfasteners (not shown) adapted for the type of ground and wall. Ofcourse, the starter strip 52 is first leveled prior to its attachment.

As can be better seen in FIG. 3B, the V-shaped fold portion 62 of thestarter strip 52 is so distanced relative to the wall-mounting portion54 to yield a conventional air gap 64 between the panel 12 and the wallsurface 15. A starter strip according to another illustrative embodiment(not shown) is configured to yield a greater or lesser air gap thanillustrated.

A first row of panels 12 is then mounted onto the strip 52 so that thegroove 30 of each panel 12 is complementary registered with the V-shapedfold portion 62 of the strip 52 so as to complementary receive theportion 62 therein.

As described hereinabove, the panels 12′ on both lateral sides 66 of thewall 15 and any other panels 12 can be cut either or both laterally andlongitudinally prior to their installation, to adapt to the geometry ofthe wall.

Further rows of panels 12 are then added by abutting the top and bottomedges 24 and 26 of superimposed panels 12 by aligning their respectivetongue 28 and groove 30.

Prior to mounting each panel 12 in such a way, one or more clip 16 isinserted in their slits 32 and 34 from the lateral side thereof. Theclips 16 are then secured to the wall 15 using fasteners before addinganother row of panel 12, which will then hide the clips 16, and morespecifically the wall-mounting portion38 thereof.

A person skilled in the art will now appreciate that each clip 16 can bemoved and positioned at any place along the width of the panel 12 priorto its attachment to the wall 15.

Windowsill panels 14 or other differently configured panels that areprovided with slits 32 and 34 may also be additionally mounted to thewall 15 for aesthetic or functional purposes. With regards to thewindowsill panels 14, one or more clips 16 are mounted thereto upsidedown, considering the smaller height of these panels 14, and this priorto attaching a panel 12 thereunder. This allows access to thewall-mounting portion 38 of the clip 16 for its attachment to the wall15.

With reference to FIGS. 9A and 9B, a starter strip 68 according to asecond illustrative embodiment will now be described. Since the strip 68is similar to the strip 52, only the differences therebetween will nowbe described for concision purposes.

Compared to the strip 52, the strip 68 is not provided with a V-shapedfold but is instead provided with a bent portion 70 at the edge 72 ofthe ground-contacting portion 74. The bent portion 70 defines a hookthat lock the position of a panel 12 relative to the wall 15 when suchpanel 12 is mounted to the strip 68 so that the bent portion 70 iscomplementary positioned in the V-shaped groove 30 of the panel 32.FIG.10 shows a clip 16 mounted upside-down in the slits 32-34 of a panel 12,i.e. that the wall-mounting portion 38 extends downwardly from thepanel-mounting portion 36, which is opposite its mounting orientation.According to such a mounting arrangement of the clip 16 on the panel 12,the wall-mounting portion 38 does not extend beyond the top edge 24 ofthe panel and lays flat against the back face 20 of the panel 12. Thisallows laying a plurality of panels 12 on top of each other, withoutdamaging clip(s) 16 mounted thereon in such a manner, for example duringshipping or storage.

It is to be noted that many modifications could be made to the claddingsystem 10 and cladding panels 12, 14 and 29 described hereinabove andillustrated in the appended drawings. For example:

-   other connection means than the illustrated tongue and groove    arrangement can be used to interconnect the panels. Interconnection    means can also be used on the lateral sides of the panels. According    to other illustrative embodiment, the top and bottom edges of the    panels are flat;-   while the strips 32 and 34 are illustrated as extending along the    full length of the panels 12 and 14, they can also be provided along    a limited portion of the panels 12 and 14;-   the starter strip 52 and 68 may be made of different sizes than    illustrated; wherein a plurality of shorter strips 52 and 68 can be    used together to form a suitably sized starter strip;-   the panels 12, 14 and 29 are not limited to being made of concrete.    According to another embodiment (not shown), the panel is in the    form of a well-known stone veneer wall panel, to which the    clip-receiving slits are added.

Although cladding panels and system therewith, and a method formanufacturing a cladding panel, have been described hereinabove by wayof illustrated embodiments thereof, they can be modified. It istherefore to be understood that numerous modifications may be made tothe illustrative embodiments and that the scope of the claims should notbe limited by the illustrative embodiments but should be given thebroadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cladding panel comprising: substantiallyparallel front and back faces, defining a thickness of the panel; twolateral sides, defining a length of the panel; top and bottom edges; thetop and bottom edges being configured for complementary connection; andfirst and second slits extending along at least a portion of the lengthof the panel from the back face thereof and having respective first andsecond openings that are substantially parallel to the bottom edge; thefirst slit being oriented within the thickness towards the top edge andthe second slit being oriented towards the bottom edge; whereby, inoperation, the first and second slits being configured for removablyreceiving together a V-shaped mounting clip from one of the two lateralsides, for attaching the panel to a wall.
 2. The cladding panel of claim1, wherein at least one of the first and second slits extends along thefull length of the panel.
 3. The cladding panel of claim 1, wherein atleast one of the first and second slits extends from at least one of thetwo lateral sides and ends at a distance from the at least one of thetwo lateral sides.
 4. The cladding panel of claim 1, wherein thecomplementary connection is a tongue and groove connection.
 5. Thecladding panel of claim 1, wherein the front face has a fieldstone or abrick-like finish.
 6. A cladding system comprising: at least onecladding panel, each having generally parallel front and back facesdefining a thickness of the at least one cladding panel, two lateralsides, defining a length of the at least one cladding panel, and top andbottom edges; the top and bottom edges being configured forcomplementary connection; the at least one cladding panel includingfirst and second slits extending along at least a portion of the lengthof the at least one cladding panel from the back face thereof and havingrespective first and second openings that are substantially parallel tothe bottom edge; the first slit being oriented within the thicknesstowards the top edge and the second slit being oriented towards thebottom edge; and at least one V-shaped mounting clip that is adapted tobe removably receivable in the first and second slits from one of thetwo lateral sides of the at least one cladding panel, for attaching theat least one cladding panel to a wall.
 7. The system as recited in claim6, further comprising at least one windowsill panel, each havinggenerally parallel front and back faces defining a thickness of the atleast one windowsill panel, two lateral sides, defining length of the atleast one windowsill panel, top and bottom edges, and third and fourthslits extending along at least a portion of the length of the at leastone windowsill panel from the back face thereof and having respectivethird and fourth openings that are substantially parallel to the bottomedge of the at least one windowsill; the third slit being orientedwithin the thickness of the at least one windowsill panel towards thetop edge thereof and the fourth slit being oriented towards the bottomedge of the at least one windowsill panel; wherein the at least oneV-shaped mounting clip is further adapted to be removably receivable inthe third and fourth slits from one of the two lateral sides of the atleast one windowsill panel, for attaching the at least one windowsillpanel to the wall.
 8. The system of claim 6, wherein the complementaryconnection is a tongue and groove connection.
 9. The system of claim 6,wherein the front face of the at least one cladding panel has afieldstone or a brick-like finish.
 10. The system of claim 6, wherein atleast one of the first and second slits extends along the full length ofthe panel.
 11. The system of claim 6, wherein at least one of the firstand second slits extends from at least one of the two lateral sides andends at a distance from the at least one of the two lateral sides. 12.The system of claim 6, wherein the at least one V-shaped mounting clipincludes a wall-mounting portion and a substantially V-shapedpanel-mounting portion extending from the wall-mounting portion.
 13. Thesystem of claim 12, wherein the wall-mounting portion includes at leastone tongue having a fastener-receiving hole therein.
 14. The system ofclaim 12, wherein the substantially V-shaped panel-mounting portionincludes a planar portion extending from the wall mounting portion so asto define an obtuse angle therewith, and two tabs, each extending fromthe planar portion on a respective lateral side of the panel-mountingportion so as to define a V-shape with the planar portion.
 15. Thesystem as recited in claim 6, further comprising at least one starterstrip that is configured for both mounting to the wall and forcomplementary receiving the bottom edge of the at least one claddingpanel.
 16. The system as recited in claim 15, wherein the at least onestarter strip includes a substantially flat wall-mounting portion,including first fastener-receiving holes, and a ground contactingportion that extends from the wall-mounting portion substantiallyperpendicularly therefrom; the ground-contacting portion beingconfigured for said complementary receiving the bottom edge of the atleast one cladding panel and including second fastener-receiving holes.17. A method for manufacturing a cladding panel comprising: providing apanel having generally parallel front and back faces defining athickness, two lateral sides, and top and bottom edges; and cuttingfirst and second slits therein, each along at least a portion of thelength of the panel from the back face thereof so that the first slit isoriented within the thickness towards the top edge and the second slitis oriented towards the bottom edge.
 18. The method of claim 17, whereinproviding the panel includes molding the panel in concrete.
 19. A panelcomprising: a decorative side; a back side opposite the decorative side;both the decorative and back sides extending in a first directionbetween opposite lateral sides and extending in a second directionbetween upper and lower sides; and upper and lower parallel grooves inthe back side extending from at least one of the two lateral sides forreceiving corresponding portions of a mounting bracket; the upper groovehaving a portion extending from the back side substantially towards oneof the upper and lower sides and the lower groove having a portionextending from the back side substantially towards another one of theupper and lower sides.